The bridge over the Blanco River connecting San Marcos to Kyle, which was washed out from the Memorial Day floods, is getting a temporary fix using old flatbed railroad cars to serve as lanes until a permanent repair is in order for late 2016. Alamo Crane workers and engineers installed two steel cars Thursday afternoon December 3, 2015 that will be secured in the coming days and provide a relief to residents and commuters within the next two weeks.RALPH BARRERA/ AMERICAN-STATESMAN

A gain of around 242,000 jobs in February shows the U.S. has weathered a global economic slowdown and struggling international financial markets with little effect on its own economic status, the Associated Press reports. The country’s current unemployment rate, a low 4.9 percent, has held steady. The new figures are expected to ease concerns that the U.S. could be on the verge of another major recession. The added jobs have caused an increase in consumer spending: Auto sales are up 7 percent, while home purchases rose 0.4 percent.

Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, rivals of GOP front-runner Donald Trump, all admitted they would support Trump if he were to win the Republican nomination, the Associated Press reports. Although Republican elites spent the day leading up to the statements denouncing the business mogul as a “phony” and a “con man,” the Republican’s current conundrum was evident when Rubio and Cruz said, without much enthusiasm, they would vote for Trump if he were nominated.

Gov. Greg Abbott spoke out against newly elected GOP chairman Robert Morrow Thursday when his spokesman said Morrow “in no way speaks for the Republican Party or its values,” the American-Statesman’s Sean Collins Walsh reports. Abbott joins several Travis County GOP officials who are planning to try to remove the controversial elect who has become known for tweeting sexist and profane comments. The spokesman also said Morrow “cannot adequately represent the Travis County GOP.”

DEBORAH CANNONDeveloper David Whitworth built these homes on Martin Avenue by replacing a larger home with a few smaller ones on tiny lots. The City Council voted Thursday to prevent future developers from doing so.

Following Thursday’s Austin City Council meeting it will be that much harder to build on a small lot in the city, the American-Statesman’s Andra Lim reports. During the meeting final approval was given to change the “small lot amnesty” tool, which allows for development on lots smaller than the city’s 5,750 square feet minimum. Builders used this loophole in order to replace larger homes taking up several small lots, with individual homes on each lot, in hopes that they would provide more affordable living options. City staffers the tool was to make remodeling a preexisting small lot easier, not increase density throughout the city.

With 18 confirmed cases of Zika virus in the state, Texas health authorities have announced they will increase the state lab’s capacity to test for Zika, and promote mosquito control techniques, the American-Statesman’s Mary Ann Roser reports. The lab will now be capable of testing 135 blood samples a week. Two of the 18 confirmed cases are in Travis County, but none of them were contracted through mosquitoes in the U.S., and no Zika-infected mosquitoes have been found.